


Learning to Count

by lyricsaboutbats



Category: My Chemical Romance, frerard - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-01-22 02:13:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1572287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyricsaboutbats/pseuds/lyricsaboutbats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based off of the idea of the watches on your wrists that count down to when you meet your soul mate. Gerard creeps Frank out a bit at first and neither is particularly sure of how to act around the other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Um... Hi

Frank walked into the coffee shop, habitually glancing down at the timer on his wrist. It had been getting close to zero for a while now, and there were only a few minutes left before he was supposed to meet the love of his life. "Well," he muttered to himself as he joined the line, "not gonna put off coffee for this dude."

He knew he was gay, had known since the very first time his best friend told him about the amazing girl he liked. The seven year old Frank had simply looked at him, raised an eyebrow, and remarked, "Ew, girls are gross." His viewpoint hadn't changed in fifteen years.

He was shuffling forward, practically comatose with a need for coffee, when someone bumped him. Frank glanced up and his eyes took in the bright red face. "Eep," the boy said, staring down at his wrist. Frank looked down at his and, sure enough, his timer read 00:00:00. He almost rolled his eyes at how nervous the boy was, but refrained (merely out of politeness, mind you). "So, it's you, I guess," he said casually. "I'm getting my coffee, then we can talk."

The other boy, still mute, nodded and shuffled back into line. Frank could practically feel questions simmering in the boy's head, but he ignored him and turned to give the waitress his order. When his coffee was ready, he walked to the coziest seats he could find (those ones right next to the fake fireplace coffee places always have cause they're too afraid to have a real fire), trying to ignore the eyes burning holes into his back. Soon, the other boy joined him, sitting as straight as though someone had stuck a pencil up his ass, still bright red.

"So," Frank said, totally relaxed, "what's your name?"

"I'm fine" the boy squeaked, then turned even redder and gulped the coffee as though it would help him take back the words. "Gerard" he squawked, his voice somehow two octaves higher than it had been before.

"Uh-HUH," Frank replied, not bothering to hide the fact that he wasn't impressed. "I'm Frank. I'm twenty two."

"25." Gerard replied, mushing the syllables together in an attempt to talk for the shortest amount of time possible. Frank allowed them to lapse back into silence, Gerard still sitting like someone was torturing him. He hadn't stopped blushing yet. Suddenly, he leaped up so quickly, Frank looked wildly around for a fire, but found only a tall, gangly boy who was suddenly engulfed in Gerard. At least, he seemed tall, but then again, everyone was tall next to Frank, even his own mom. He couldn't make out their conversation from where he was sitting, but Gerard was leaping around like a rabbit (not particularly attractive, Frank thought) and the other boy was trying desperately to calm him down. Finally, the boy gave up and lead Gerard outside. Frank didn't care enough to swivel his head, so he returned to sipping his coffee and humming guitar riffs.

When they returned, the skinny boy was pulling Gerard by the wrist. "I'm Mikey Way," he said, all matter of fact. "This is Gerard, and you're Frank. He's nervous and I'm his brother. And he currently has a death grip on my wrist, so I would suggest you say something nice."

Then Mikey wrenched his wrist of of Gerard's grasp. Frank peered at the skin and noticed that, sure enough, there were red finger shapes imprinted upon it. "Looks painful," Frank commented, making a mental note to keep his hands far away from Gerard's in the future. Mikey grimaced in agreement, massaging his skinny wrists with those skinny fingers. He nudged Gerard into the chair and then left to join the coffee line. Suddenly, Gerard was babbling, his blush growing as his words quickened. "Mikey's already met his soulmate hername'sAliciasohe'snotnervous." Frank was pretty sure Gerard had broken the sound barrier with those last few words, but he merely smiled as Gerard settled back into his pencil-up-the-butt position.

"Well," Frank said, swallowing the dregs of his coffee, "I have to go to work. How about we meet for dinner later... and a movie, yes, a movie. I think that's what they do on dates. We can figure this whole thing out over some tofu." He gestured between him and Gerard. Naturally, he knew what people typically did on dates (but he was pretty sure Gerard didn't). He'd been on plenty himself. Even though most considered them to be a thing of the past, Frank liked them. He liked the free buttery popcorn and the kids he knew he'd never end up with, even if it was just because of his wrist. But Gerard was different. He was awkward and kind of irritating and Frank just wished he would loosen up. It would not do to marry someone who was always the color of a brilliant sunset. Sure, orange was a great color, just not on someone's face. But by this point, Gerard was nodding enthusiastically, still mute as a mime, Mikey was coming back over with his coffee, and Frank was surely late for work, so he put aside all thoughts of sunsets and clingy puppies and walked out into the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a pretty short chapter, but it's just supposed to be an introduction. A lot of the chapters in this will probably be pretty short for a while, just a scene or two, but they'll lengthen as the characters get to know each other better.


	2. Just a Day at Work

"So?" Katrina asked, inexplainably interested. "What else does he do, other than just sit there? Believe me, I'm so interested."

It was only with those last three words that Frank caught on to her sarcasm. She was seated, in her typical place, behind a large cymbal that seemed to be her favorite of the drumset pieces. It was always crashing and making his ears hurt, but in a good way.

"Hey." Frank said. " I haven't said that much about him."

Ben peered over his glasses, allowing his bass guitar to fall slack around his waist. "Dude. I literally know so much about this Gerard guy's incapability to impress you, I think I could marry him myself."

"Please, do." Frank rolled his eyes.

Jimmy finally noticed the lack of all other instruments and stopped screaming into the mic, turning around with a major frown that caused everyone to wince preemptively. "Really?" He insisted. "Really?! You're going to waste the one - yes, in case you've all forgotten, ONE - practice that Lettering gets per week in order to discuss how much Frank hates the man he has to marry?"

"I don't HAVE to marry him," Frank muttered sarcastically. "I don't think that I've ever heard of someone NOT marrying their Counter," Katrina mused. The singing stopped again and Jimmy spun around so fast, his green hair hit him in the face. "Are you going to PLAY?" he yelled. He did not stop studying them angrily until Katrina and Ben looked at each other and prepared their instruments. Frank finally grabbed his guitar and played a chord, and Jimmy turned back to his mic. The room was filled with noise, but none of it was as energetic as normal. Frank, the main source of crazy, was merely standing, playing the notes as though they were a chore. Within a few bars, he lost control of his mouth and began talking again. "He just SAT there the whole time-"

"Oh, by all means, Frank, continue!" The studio had gone deathly silent under Jimmy's frustration. "By all means, ruin our practice! You know, you're not the only one in this band. We all are paying for this time that you appear to have no consideration for!"

"Jimmy?" Katrina asked.

"Yes," he replied, his voice already flat with defeat.

"How about we let Frank get it all out now so that then he doesn't ever talk about Gerard again?"

"Hmm," Jimmy muttered, but he stepped away from the mic and sat on the floor.

Katrina shot Frank a look that said 'you better fucking thank me for this later' and they too sat upon the floor.

"So, Frank, tell us everything," Katrina tried to sound sympathetic, and even though it didn't really work, Frank was just so fucking pissed that he barged forward anyway.

"He doesn't TALK! He just sits there like someone literally just placed a flagpole up his ass! His face goes so red, it's practically patriotic. Gerard - even his name sounds stuck up." Frank seemed to both savor and spit out each word, relishing in his anger. "He's like the living embodiment of those construction signs: 'Warning; do not enter'. Ugh."

"Well," Katrina said, still the only one okay with having this little complain fest, "when I met Jimmy, I'm sure he thought I was going to be intolerable as fuck. I wore these horrible acid wash purple jeans all the time, and ruffly shirts. My hair was an 80s curled bob and it was this horrible yellowy blonde that made my eyes look absolutely way too light. When my wrist watch hit zero and I looked up and saw Jimmy - who at the time was this 6 foot punk kid with purple spikes and a septum piercing, I refused to meet his eyes for about a month until he finally told me that if I didn't step up, he was done. We've been great since. Maybe you just have to push this kid."

"No!" Frank insisted. "He has this brother, Mikey - who seems super awesome, by the way- but anyway, Mikey told me to say something NICE and I did and it didn't change his reaction to me at all!"

Ben looked at him. "What'd you say?"

Frank began to speak, then halted, his mouth hanging open for a moment before he blushed really hard. "I'm taking him to a movie."

Even Jimmy snickered at this. "A movie?" Katrina laughed. "Those are so ancient! Isn't that what kids did for dates? Like, a thousand years ago?"

"Yeah," Frank muttered grudgingly, "but I LIKE them."

"Wait, wait, wait," Katrina grinned at him. "You've taken people to the movies more than once?"

"Shut up."

"No WAY!"

"Shut up."

"Oh my God!"

"How about we go back to playing?"

"Not on your life, Jimmy, I have to hear way more about this. You take people on DATES?"

"Okay, but that's not even the point," Frank argued. "The point is he's creepy as fuck, and he's gonna be sitting there, ramrod position, staring at me in the dark!"

"Then why'd you invite him?" Ben asked.

"Well, I have to at least pretend to like him until I can get this pairing tested."

"Frank." Katrina said, disappointed. "You know the new system doesn't fail."

"It's failed before!" He argued desperately. "Switched twins' pairings, put people in the wrong place..."

"Frank that's all between family members that are close in age. You're an only child."

"Maybe I was supposed to marry his brother!"

"Frank."

"Let's just go back to playing," Frank said, defeated.

"Frank-" Jimmy interjected.

"I don't want to hear it."

"Alright."

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter isn't done yet, but I will try to finish it as soon as possible.


End file.
